Tube cleaner



Aug. 25, 1936. w, HAMILTQN 2,052,174-

TUBE CLEANER Filed May 9, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 25, 1936. w. T.HAMILTON 2,052,174

. TUBE CLEANER f Filed May 9, 1935 2 shetsheet z llllflflllllllfi win 5ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 25, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2:05am TUBECLEANER Application May 19 35, Serial-No. 20.545

'4 Claims. "IS-#10 513) This invention relates Ito 'improvements'inrtube cleaners employed :to remove .scale from the 'internal surfaces ofEtubes, the :inventionrelating Ito that type :cf tube cleaner which:hasmutters-movable outwardly tQ ea .limited :extent by centrifugallforce .in the manner described in my spending application serial .No.16842708, :filed August 11th,

My improved cleaner was designed particiflarly Ito :elean tubes whichhave different tdiameters. :It .has rbeen the practice in certain:t-ypes of gasolline stills 2120 reenforce certain portions -of the tubewhich are subject to corrosion, generally -.one *end thereof, abyinserting inthe tube a short .section of tubing .of :such externaldiameter as .to :fit-snuglywithin the toil still tube which-resuits in[two different diameters throughout the -length=of the tube. .-Incleaning tubes which have :been thus reenforced it "has been -.thepractice ,to use a cleaner or :small size for 'the smaller diameter @ofthe tube and another cleaner of .larger size .-for that portion of :thetube .having the largest diameter. 7

:It :is thelobject of .the present invention :tOf-PIO- wide .alcleanerhead which is adapted to :not only clean the smaller diameter of thetube but-also the larger diameter.

.A more specific object of the invention is to ,provide in a cleaner.head of :a given .size, means for mounting the cutters such that thecutters will have a greater outward throw by centrifugal iorce than withknown cleaner heads.

in the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is .an .endelevation of a. "cleaner .head constructed accordingto one form which :theinventionmay take.

F.ig..2is a view-partlyinside elevation :and partly in longitudinalsecticnof the same.

.Fig. 3 isafhorizontal section on the line 33 of Eig. '4 l-sa transversesection on the line l-=4 -0 .Fig. 3.

Fig. Bis a transverse sectiononthe line 5-5 of Fig. '3.

'Eig. 6is:a 1perspective view of a member em- =ployedin .theconstruction, the scale :being some- .what increased over the foregoingfigures.

I-Fig. 7 is .a perspective view of a similar member .on the same scale.

.Eig. 8 is a view partly in :side elevation and partly inlongitudinalsection of a cleaner :head inwhichaslightlydiiierentconstructioniis followed.

Fig. "9 is a view, partly in end elevation and partly :m-transversesection of the same head.

Fig. 10 is a view partly in side elevation and l-partly in longitudinal(section. the sectional portion being taken 1011 the line ill-1U oiFig..9.

11 is a perspective wiewcf the body -.of the .form shown in :E'igs. 8,l9 and 10.

.Fig. :12 is aperspective .view on a slightly larger :5 scale of amember employed in the second :men- .tioned form.

Referring to the drawings, the form shown in :Figs. 1 -.to '7,inclusive, will be first described. This 1016211161 head is composed1015 a body 1 havl0 ing an axiallyextending'threaded extension 2 onwhich a hubbed -end member 3 :is screwed, the threaded .end .2 beingextended but about halfuwa-yzinto the end member 3 so that the remainingopen portion of the \interi'orly "threaded bore 1. .of the send .member3 may .be used to secure the head onto the motor shaft (not shown).

fl he headisprovided in :the;.present case with vthree sets -.of cutterelements of a "well known form and are so disposed that underthe-centrif- 2o ugal force developed when the head is rotated by themotive power, the elements will 'flynout .to the maximum extentallowable either ;by the stops provided in the .head :when the head isin the opener :by the bore of a tube when the head is inserted 'in thetube. ISince'each set of elements is identical one :set only will bementioned, this set :being the one shown in the longitudinal sectionalview, .Eig. .3. The cuttersareof the well :known iorm of .star-=cuttersand comprise a pair .30 of disk cutters 4 and 5 and a cone cutter x6 tohead the group. Each cutter is provided with a central here throughwhich :is passed -a cutter :pin 1. The icutter min is carried inslidable blocks, :the forward end of :the-pinbeing insertedsin theopening 8 of a block 9 (Fig. 7) which is .prei- .erably' tapered to:permit the pinto tilt with :rela- .tion to the block, while therearward end is :car- :rieddn the elongated opening 10 :of a block H(Fig. 6).

The :block '9 is .aforward :block :and is :received in anax-ial .slot 12cut in the outerportion of the body 1, thee-slot extending in depthradially toward the central v,portion thereof. In about the samemanner,theblock ll isreceivedin-aslot 13 at the reart-portionrof -thefbody. The'cuttersare receivedin a radially extending opening 1'4 in 'the centralportion ofthe body :I ,sand'togprovide the desired range of movement,the openings 1:4 .for each of the sets :meet each :other, whereby whenthe cutters are :in their innermost positions suchas' islshown in fulllinesrintheseveralfigures, only :the :tips of ifihe cutter -teeth@project beyond the periphery *o'f the ibody.

When the head is being rotated as in operation,

blocks to co-act with portions of the body. The stop on the forwardblock 9 is best seen at' l5' (Fig. '7) and is an axial extension of thatportion 1' of the block nearest the center of. the body when the blockis in place as in Fig. 3. .In the same way, a stop It is provided forthe rear block] I. In the outward movement of the blocks, the blockshave a considerable distance to move before making contact witha-limiting portion of the body, and this accounts for a partof themaximum possible outward movement of the cut ters.

In the present instance the stop I5 on the forward block makes contactwith the lip H of the nose portion of the body, while at the rearwardend the stop l6 bears against a tubular extending portion of the endmember 3 which encircles the body at this end (Fig. 3).

It has been stated that for all practical purposes the interior of thetube is the stop to limit outward movement of the blocks which carry thecutters, so therefore, to clean a tube the cutters should have otherpossible remaining movement than that allowed by the stops on the blocksso that the pressure of the cutters on the surface tube cleaner may bemaintained. To provide that the range of the. throw of the cutters incleaning a tube with two different diameters with a single head may besufiiciently great to properly clean the stepped diameters of the tubewith full cutter pressure, provision is made to allow a greater outwardthrow of the cutters than is possible by the range of throw permitted bythe stops on the blocks which carry the cutters.

This feature is obtained in the present instance by providing that inthe rear block I l the opening in the block which receives the rear endof the pin 1 is elongated in a direction which when the block is inplace in the body, will be radially disposed with respect to the body.Thus the block has an outward radial movement with reference to the bodyand also the pin has a similar outward movement with reference to bothbody and block, the total movement allowing the cutters to move to thebroken line position seen in Fig. 3, by which it can be seen that therear end of the pin will move to the outer portion of the elongatedslotted opening 1 of the rear block.

Obviously, the upper limit is just under the point where the pin movescompletely to the outer elongated opening also in the forward block 9 inplaceof the cylindrical opening shown, but in view of the fact that alarge radial movement at :the forward end of the head may interfere attimes with the entering of a head in certain tubes, the large radialmovement is allowed at the rear end only.

In .the second formshown'in Figs. 8 to 12, inelusive, the constructiondeparts but little from the previously described form, the differencesEbeing'that' when in the .open the stops that re- 1 tain the cuttergroups in the body are placed on the sides of the blocks, making itpossible to manufacture a shorter head for certain kinds of specializeduse, and since here it is permissible to allow each end of the group totravel to the same large movement, each of the blocks has an elongatedopening; in fact, the blocks are identical and a lower manufacturingcost is obtained. A block is shown at I8 in Fig. 12, the elongatedopening is seen at 19, and the stops are indicated .at 20 on each side.The stops make contact with the shoulders 2| in the body 22 (Fig. 11)and the groups are retained loosely in place by the flat circumferentialflange 23 of the hubbed end member 24 bearing against the end of thebody 22.

As before described in connection with Fig. 3, the total outward cuttermovement of a set of cutters is indicated by the broken line position inFig. 10. In the second form, the cutter pins are indicated at I, thecone cutters at 6, and the disk cutters at 4 and Having thus describedmy invention, I claim:

1. In a tube cleaner, a rotatable body, a pair of axially spaced blocksmounted therein for radial movement relatively thereto, stops to limitthe movement of said blocks, a substantially axially extending cutterpin mounted in said blocks, a cutter element on said pin, said cutterpin being mounted in at least one of said blocks for outward movementunder the influence of centrifugal force relatively thereto, themounting of said pin in the other block being such as to permit suchoutward movement of the pin and means to limit the movement of said pin.

2. In a tube cleaner, a rotatable body having a pair of substantiallyaxially aligned radially-extending slots, a pair of fore and aft blocksmounted in said slots for radial movement under the influence ofcentrifugal force, means to limit the movement of said blocks, a cutterpin mounted in said blocks, the rear block being provided with aradially-extending slot to receive said pin whereby said pin may moveoutwardly under the influence of centrifugal force relatively to saidblock, the mounting of said pin in the other block being such as topermit such outward movement of the pin and means to limit the movementof said pin.

3. In a tube cleaner, a rotatable body having a pair of substantiallyaxially aligned radially-extending slots, a pair of blocks mounted insaid slots for radial movement under the influence of centrifugal force,means to limit the movement of said blocksjeach of said blocks'having aradially-extending slot, a cutter pin mounted in the slots of saidblocks for outward movement under the influence of centrifugal forcerelatively thereto, a cutter element on said pin, and means to limit theoutward movement of said pin.

4. In a tube cleaner, a rotatable body having at least oneradially-extending slot, a cutter supporting block mounted in said slotadapted to move outwardly by centrifugal force, means for limiting theouter movement thereof, a cutter pin carried at one end by said block,means for supporting the other end of said pin such as to per- LT R T.HAMILTON.

